Expat and travel blog featuring stories on living overseas destinations, as well as some stuff on the expat blogosphere too.

expatriate locations

08/20/2013

Recently, one of those annual quality of life for expats type surveys was released - and, as ever, made interesting reading.

The survey - published by the international arm of a UK bank, found that while Australia remains the most popular choice for UK expats, Dubai has risen to third place in terms of how respondents rate its quality of life.

A couple of things that this survey underlines for me are as follows

Australia. Sun, sea, sand. Highly rated as a country to do business in. Anglophone. So many UK nationals there, you actually bump into people you know in the street. Yes, it's little wonder that this antipodean nation is so popular. About as far away from home as you could geographically get ... and yet, oddly familiar in so many ways. And if like me you're a massive fan of Tim Tams, Cherry Ripes and Vegemite, then it's easily one of the very best places on Earth.

Spain is a perennial favourite of people from the UK. In fact I don't know anyone from the UK - not a single soul - who hasn't been to Spain and loved it. But I fear that its rightful place high up the quality of life table may have been the victim of Eurozone-related slippage. Big shame, beautiful country.

The UAE is climbing the table, and it's been an expat hub for a long time now. But during the downturn there were some fairly dramatic stories in the press - sports cars abandoned at the airport as newly bankrupt folks fled Dubai, and also doom and gloom talk of the Dubai party being over. But it's not only survived - and the UAE as a whole seems to be pretty buoyant economically with tourism an retail both doing alright.

Dubai's populace is well known for being majority expat - depending on which figures you read the number of non-Emiratis who reside there is between three quartres and nine-tenths. This could well be a factor in the country's popularity with UK expats - anywhere that has som any residents from around the world is likely to have certain cosmopolitan flair as well as a dynamic cultural mix. In fact, when you think back over the last century - what is the one city ou think of that's founded on the spirit of expatriation? Yep - New York.

So, all positive news for expat Dubai (apart from some recent blogs about how scary it is to drive there). On the northern tip of the Gulf, Kuwait seems to be going through a different phase right now - with tales of the country's planned massive reduction in expat numbers including measures restricting even access time for hospitals.

07/15/2013

One of the major considerations for expats with school age children is - obviously - education. So what do you do when you're somewhere far, far away and the culture is very different from home? This couple describe their experience of the education available in Pune, India.

The nature of expatriation is that it changes over time - people have always made the choice to go and live abroad, but where they go can depend on any number of factors relating ti the destination, and these can include

cost of living

employment opportunities

political stability

safety

health and education systems

And so on. Currently the number one expat destination for people from the UK is Australia, and it's difficult to envisage there being any change to that any time soon. With its sunny weather and strong economy it's easy to see why people make theor way there to live the expat life. I think it's also fair to say that Australia being part of the English-apeaking world is part of its attraction too - being able to go as far away as is geographically possible but not needing a phrase book is definitely a plus point for many of us.

This week the Telegraph ran an interesting article entitled Why Tomorrow's Expats should choose Germany over Spain, arguing that the former offers cheap property and low taxes. Both of which definitely sound appealing. Spain of course has the great weather factor - and the coastlines, too. But according to the article, Spain has dropped from 33% to 23% in terms of being the place as the favoured destination of "would be" expats.

And having apent a great deal of time in both countries, I would be hard pushed to choose between them simply in terms of which one would be more fun to live in. Interestingly the Mercer quality of life survey has Madrid and Barcelona in its index, albeit placed in the 40s, while Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt are all top ten.

07/09/2013

Kuwait, that tiny country between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, may not have the same draw for expats as Dubai, but it has for a very long tome been home to people of various nations across the world.

In terms of the number of non Kuwaiti residents, the figures vary depending on where you look, so anywhere between around a half and two-thirds of the population are foreigners. Compare this with the UAE, whose populatuion is approximately nine-tenths non- Emirati.

Lately, Kuwait has been aiming to reduce the number of non0nationals who reside there, perhaps to ensure that in future there are maximum employment opportunities for nationals.

Described by the Telegraph as an "anti-foreigner stance", the country's various actions have included upwards of 1000 deportations in relation to traffic offences reported as 'minor' as well as restrictions on who can drive on the country's roads, and restricting times that foreigners can be seen at Jahra Hospital (the city's main facility).

Also according to the telegraph's report, Kuwait has dropped position on the World Economic Forum’s list of rankings for the friendliness of countries towards tourists and visitors. "The Emirate now stands at 137th out of 140 countries", says the report.

However, despite the country's stated aim of reducing the number of non-nationals, there are still going to be a fair amount of non-nationals in Kuwait for a while yet. And there may also be job opportunities for expats for some time to come, specially for people who have in-demand skills.

As always, if you're travelling to Kuwait, make sure you have the right type of insurance, since as the FCE states "fees are expensive". Providers can offer a range of different levels of cover, meaning that you can suit your requirements and budget.

06/24/2013

If there's one thing that you read extremely wealthy people saying in interviews quite a lot it's that having money isn't necessarily that big a deal in itself - money, after all, is just a concept - and the money we have in our bank accounts has no physicality - just existing in cypberspace until we use a debit card to buy something with it, or maybe magic the money into reality using an ATM.

What these people also say is that what money has meant for them is ore choice. And if you found yourself with, say £5 million in the bank tomorrow morning, what would change? Would you want to move somewehere sunnier - somewhere you'd p[reviously only dreamed of?

According to a recent survey, millionaire expats are increasingly being drawn to overseas destinations, with the amount of UK millionaires considering emigration now at record levels. As the blog points out, it's often quality of life that's the motivation - although no doubt there will be countries that offer a number of tax benefits for those who have a lot of moolah.

The expat section of Skandia's "Millionaire Monitor" of 2012 report stated that (according its survey results for that year)

22.8% of respondents who were considering leaving the UK said better quality of life abroad was their motivation for a possible move

13.7% of high net worth individuals said that high taxation was their reason for wanting to become an exptriate

Other reasons included 'society issues' in the UK (such as crime, poverty and so on), having family already located abroad, employement opportunities, and even the weather.

Interestingly, the top destination for UK millionaire expats was ... France. I'm scratching my head as to why that could possibly be. France has

Lovely summer weather, especially in more southerly areas like Provence

06/21/2013

According to the available figues, there are in the region of five and three quarter million Americans of Scossish heritage - which, as populations stats fanatics will recognise, is more thanthe population of Scotland itself - which therefore of course means that the Scots have a long history of becoming expatriates in this part of the New World.

These days, though, Scotland also has its share of expats from all around the world - and there are some great blogs out there by people who've settled in Scotland - either going to the country for work, or maybe having married a Scottish person and made it their new home.

One such blog is The Wee Familia, which is wrtten by a Californian blogger called Lex who moved to Scotland's biggest city, Glasgow, in 2009 - and it's always interesting to read blogs by people from sunny parts of the world who settle in the UK - what with the amount of rain and the colder temperatures. This blogger though doesn't make much mention of the weather and instead fills us in on a bunch of interesting stuff and shares some photos along the way. Well worth a read - check it out.

And as there are many Americans of Scottish descent, so there are many Canadians with the Scottish DNA too. The blog Endlessly Changing Horizon is the story of a couple from Canada who are slowly workong their way around the world, but it doesn't state whether either of them have Scottish ancestors. The post I've linked to above is really interesting - and states somethign I'm sure many of us feel when we arrive in North America from the UK (and vice versa) - that it's 'a parrallel universe across the pond'. A lot of things are familiar, and a lot of them unfamiliar - making for a bit of a learning curve as an expatriate even if the language is (more or less) the same.

06/18/2013

India may not have the largest land mass of any counrty in the world, but it surely must match any other nation for sheer diversity. And with over 1.2 thousand million people living in the country, it's of course also the second most populous country after China. And many projections indicate that it will overtake its near neighbour to become the world's biggest population by as soon as 2028.

There are around 32,000 British people living in India - according to the the BBC's Brits Abroad interactive guide, which is based on data from the Institute for Public Policy research (IPPR) although I'm pretty sure this figure comes from about six or seven years ago, so the number of UK nationals residing in the country may well have changed a bit since then. My guess would be that expat numbers have probably risen a bit over the last half decade due to the whole BRICs economies phenomenon and resulting inward investment there.

There's a good range of expat blogs on the subject of life in India - but as mentioned above the country's so big that no single blog could really give a general view of the expat experience there. For instance if you had a Belgian blog where the blogger was located in, say, Liège, then reading it a lot of the social and cultural stuff would be useful to you even if you were heading to Brussels. But reading about life in one area of India where the langauage and life is different to another area and it's almost like different countries in some senses. For instance, according to this healthcare guide to the country, the medical facilities in the cities are generally good but finding adequate facilities in rural India can be difficult.

One of the more interesting blogs on Indian expat life I've found recently was Chai A Cup of Life - it's about an Australian expat who moved to India when her husband was offered a job in New Delhi. Blog owner Amelia states on the intro page of the blog that:

At first I was extremely resistant on living here. I felt frustrated & that all the comforts of my life that I had in Australia were gone. Fortunately, I have now realised how lucky I am to be here and see this as a way where I can learn, grow & experience new things.

And it's interesting in that after spending a lot of time in India, the blogger reports a 'reverse culture shock' effect on going back to Australia. Check out the blog - well worth a read!

06/04/2013

If there was ever an expat desitnation that lent itself well to the digital photography aspect of blogging, it's Iceland. The country's stunning natural beauty puts it up there with the very best locations on the planet for even a casually snapped shot of a sunset or a building.

Far northern locations hold a special fascination for me - and Iceland is no excpetion. With its small population (maybe about the same amount of residents as Bristol?) it's a nation that's fascinating for its culture, nightlife, and its location, on the very edge of Europe.

Adventures of an American abroad is a really good read, and if you want to take a (virtual) trip to Iceland, this blog is well worth a look. Add in the fact that the blogger isn't based in the capital city, Reykjavik, and this makes for a pretty unusual blog, off the beaten track and with some really great photos of the places and people of Iceland.

05/24/2013

Speak to anyone from the West who has spent an extended period of time living there as an expat, and you'll generally hear a lot of very positive things about the country. There's a low level of crime, the scenery is beautiful, the cities smart and futuristic.

On the more challenging side of things, some of the experiences of expats include the following:

Culture shock. If moving from one European country to another requires a fair bit of transitioning and cultural acclimatisation, then moving from Europe to Japan requires learning curves for just about everything. First off there's the different alphabet (or alphabets to be precise - Kanji, hiragana and katakana). And then there are the customs, scuh as taking off your shoes when visiting people, as well as other observances of etiquette.

But there are other cultural things that expats in Japan always mention too. The first of these is the whole 'Gaijin' thing. Although apparently the word has now become slightly un-PC, many expats talk about how, as a foreigner in Japan, you really do feel foreign, to the extent that many report they feel they'd never really be able to fully assimilate. There are of course those who do live in Japan permanently, so it's clearly the case that, foreigner or not, some people do become fully attached to the country. But for new expats it does always seem to be a factor in their days in the country.

Then there's the whole uchi-soto thing, which when expats explain it to you just sounds so foreign and difficult to understand that it can be difficult to imagine how expats get by - although of course they do! For a concise explanation of the uchi-soto aspect of Japanese culture, check out this blog post.

Japan is also known for being one of the world's healthiest countries - and the Japanese island of Okinawa is famed for the longevity of its inhabitants. In the words of the Expat Blog's guide to Japan, though, it's imprtant to be aware that "When living and/or working in Japan, people may not have the same level of access to the healthcare system as to the local population". Beecuae of this, they advise that "it is crucial to have some professional advice on how to choose the right expatriate health insurance in Japan". Depending on the length of your stay in the country there are differing requirements for cover.

There are loads of really good blogs written by expats in Japan and in a typically blogosphere kind of way, they let you in on many of the day to day experiences and ephemera that the guidebooks aren't really able to do. There's something very engaging about well-written expat blogs that really make you feel the writer is sharing stuff in a conversational way.

In this respect it's no wonder that of all the different types of blog sites that exist, the expat ones continue to be numerous, and lively. While they may come and go (a lot of people are only expats temorarily) expat blogs are a constant source of education and fascinating stories. See Tokyo Writer, Japaneasy and Dave's Blog for some really good examples of the diversity and depth of expat blogging in Japan.

05/20/2013

The rate of expatriation grows despite various parts of the world being in recession, and despite the overall generalised effects of the downturn. The mix of ever-evolving communications, relatively cheap travel, and constantly developing economies means that there's unlikely to be any levelling off in expat assignment numbers anytime soon.

Working abroad is something that consistently shows up in surveys as being something that employees really value. It's seen by many as a valuable part of career development as well as the chance to learn a new culture and language.

But sending staff abroad - while it's more and more widespread - isn't necessarily that simple a thing to do, and without the services of a global HR function it means organisations have a few things to think about when sending people abroad:

EHIC or not? If you're based in the EEA and sending a staff member (or members) to another EEA country then your employee may be an EHIC holder. The EHIC is residency based though - so it depends on the length of your employee or employees' stay. The EHIC isn't (despite its name) a substitute for (or equivalent of) international health insurance. It doesn't always mean the holder will be exempt from charges, and neither does it mean avoiding waiting times.

A standard level of cover according to the AXA PPP International website also includes medical evacuation or repatriation which the EHIC doesn't. Emergency medical repatriation can be very expensive for the uninsured and there are often news stories detailing the tales of traveller woe when something went wrong for the uninsured.

Interestingly, one survey (the results of which were published last year) indicated that in a lot of cases there was confusion over what type and level of cover is required for employees working overseas. It appears that in some cases it's not understood that business travel insurance and international insurance are different from each other, with the former being time-limited and also designed for emergency use - while the latter is a health policy that can include various levels of cover for people who are staying long term overseas.

Depending on your provider, International medical cover also means that (dependent on where your staff are) there can be better access to English speaking medical staff if employees aren't confident in the local language.

More on global talent management here - well worth a read if you're an employer or have a wider interest in expatriation and socioeconomic trends.